Review Summary: Tangy, yet delightfully robust
Ilan Rubin is the best thing to ever hit Angels and Airwaves. It's a simple fact. Throughout Angels and Airwaves career, one thing has been consistent; and that is that Tom Delonge's ego and micromanagement have always been the forefront of the band's work, and that everything takes a backseat to Delonge's very pretentious lyrics and overblown synthesizers. At best, the AVA has had some pleasant spacey post-punk that's worth coming back to every once in a while, and at its worst..well, It's unbearably bad *cough* I-empire and Love part 1 and 2 *cough*. But then something very pleasant happened. The replacement of all other Angels and Airwaves band members with Ilan Rubin, the ex-drummer for both Nine Inch Nails and Lostprophets, has added an new factor to the equation. On The Dream Walker, Rubin's influence is present on every aspect of the album, and to be honest, it's quite refreshing to hear. It's like Rubin sat down with Delonge during recording sessions, and said "you see all this pretentious love ***? It's gotta go. Seriously dude, you say 'love' more than Air Supply." The results of this marriage were overwhelmingly postive. Despite some minor issues, this LP is a real gem.
'The Dream Walker' follows the formula of the spacey U2 inspired post-punk of their past albums, but unlike the overblown past, this record shows the progress we all were secretly hoping for, and is almost a different beast altogether. The first thing one notices with the record is that the production is a little grittier, and...well, less
shiny. While this is no independent recording , it's nice to hear some bite in Delonge's guitars again. This especially apparent in tracks like Paralyzed and The Wolfpack, where nice, dirty bass riffs take the forefront. Also apparent on first listen is that the songs are much shorter, not one of them breaking the 5 minute mark, keeping them from becoming overlong. Interestingly enough, "The Dream Walker" is also easily the band's most varied album. It transitions pleasantly and effectively from banger to jam to tender ballad with no jarring shifts, due to the almost constant mid-tempo pace of the record. This is can be a bad thing, as this mid tempo march of the songs becomes a little almost dreary track five. Fortunately, the album picks up as it progresses, speeding up with the energetic punk jam of "Mercenaries", expanding though the stadium rock of "Bullets in the Wind" and "the Disease", and ending with the twinkly guitar riffs and four on the floor beat of "Tremors".
Probably with Rubin's help, this album is easily Angels And Airwave's at its lyrical height, with the best tidbits coming out of "Tunnels", "Tremors" and "Anomaly". It doesn't matter if Delonge is referencing his Poet Anderson stories or singing about falling in love, he sounds sincere, honest, and passionate. We haven't heard that from the blinker in a long time. With Rubin's help, much the pretension has faded away, revealing the very sappy and lovey-dovey man. Unfortunately, the lyrics are still annoyingly stuck too often to singing about love and hope, leaving the faint but too familiar taste in the mouth that is left by these lines. At least Tom's being true to himself, whatever that is. Topping of this surprisingly consistent and pleasant listen is the closer, "Anomaly". This song is easily the crowning moment with its soft acoustic nature and sincere lyrics showcasing Delonge at his most romantic and youthful in years. This is a song that just begs to be played to your significant other from their lawn out of boom box speakers that you hold above your head. The Line "I never wanted to say how much I liked you, I never wanted to be one of your sad discoveries we'll see" will speak to many youths and young adults, and is destined to be an instant classic among fans.
In reeling in his massive ego, Tom Delonge has, with Ilan Rubin's help, created one of the best albums of his career. Its familiarity with the mid-tempo beat, annoying adherence to ''love & hope'' lyrics without much change can be a annoyance, but the much improved songwriting help reduce that feel a substantial amount. The best tracks of the "The Dream Walker" are the best AVA has to offer, and the worst tracks are miles above the worst of the preceding albums. Rubin's guidance was definitely needed to trim the fat and bring forward some genuinely captivating music. I was honestly surprised by this release, and I'm looking forward with hope that the team of Rubin and Delonge as AVA can keep delivering.
